Great Wine Capitals’ winners

The Great Wine Capitals' has announced the winners of its 'International Best Of Wine Tourism' awards.

There were 343 applications this year. The eight winners were said to be chosen by a multi-national panel of leading tourism experts from 50 local ‘best of‘ winners from eight great wine capitals.

The international winners for 2015 are:

- Rioja's historic Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta; for its restoration of Ygay Castle founded in 1852 and built by Luciano Murrieta, the first owner and driving force of the winery.

- The St Emilion estate, Château La Croizille, for the architecture of its new cellar and magnificent reception room in the stylish modern building can accommodate up to 100 people.

- Waterford Estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa, famed for service excellence, in a destination estate, offering a variety of informative, authentic, fun and innovative tasting options.

- The 17th-generation at Weingut Dr Hinkel in Framershein; for its innovative approach where the winery offers colour-wine tasting in its specifically equipped wine event room.

- Trapiche, which is Argentina's biggest wine producer and a multi-award winner as well as one of the first Argentine wineries to enter the international scene.

- Museu do Douro - Museu de Território in Portugal whose objective is to represent the Douro demarcated region’s natural and cultural heritage designated World Heritage by Unesco.

- Hall Wines of Napa Valley where visitors are invited to explore the Gold Leed certified hospitality centre and winery, the renovated historic Bergfeld Winery, and expansive art collection.

- Chile's Casablanca valley restaurant Macerado at Viñamar aiming at creating an intense and enjoyable harmony between cuisine and sparkling wine, a careful task that embodies the Viñamar spirit.

The GWC describes itself as a network of some of the world’s leading wine-producing areas created to share and promote international best practices in wine tourism, one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing sectors of the tourism industry.